The present invention relates to a blanket/plate mounting apparatus used to mount a blanket/resin plate on the circumferential surface of the coater cylinder of a coating machine or to mount a blanket on the circumferential surface of the blanket cylinder of an offset printing press.
A blanket of this type is made of an extendable material obtained by stacking rubber layers and fabrics alternately. Hence, after winding the blanket on the circumferential surface of the coater cylinder of a coating apparatus, the leading edge or trailing edge of the blanket is pulled to bring the blanket into tight contact with the circumferential surface of the cylinder, thus tightening the blanket.
As shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-215541, a conventional blanket/plate mounting apparatus comprises a leading edge winding bar and trailing edge winding bar pivotally, axially extending in the notch of a blanket cylinder, a worm wheel axially mounted on each end shaft of each of the two winding bars, a worm to mesh with the worm wheel, and a worm shaft on which the worm is axially mounted and which has a hexagonal head. When fitting a box spanner with the hexagonal head of the worm shaft and pivoting the box spanner, the blanket gripped by the two winding bars and wound around the circumferential surface of the blanket cylinder is mounted on the circumferential surface of the blanket cylinder in a tight state.
In the conventional blanket/plate mounting apparatus, the blanket is manually tightened. This increases the work load on the operator.